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Automated Trading Made Simple

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 10/7/2022 5 min read
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People think I spend hours in front of the computer screen every day.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Quite honestly, I spend more time teaching than I do trading.

The lifestyle I cultivated grants me the freedom to pay it forward.

Between the schools I help build in Bali to the hours of content I create for my students, I can honestly say I may spend 2-3 hours a day trading at my busiest.

I know that seems like a pipe dream for most of you.

But trust me, it’s much easier than you think.

Most traders spin their wheels looking for the perfect setups. They get lost amongst the charts and actually end up missing trades.

I, on the other hand, take just a few minutes to locate the BEST stocks to trade in a matter of minutes.

All it takes is a few simple steps…

Screen for Success

Tim Sykes checking his top penny stocks list in Italy
© Millionaire Media, LLC

Most stocks I trade are either new Supernovas or former Supernovas.

But you can’t exactly just scan for a Supernova.

Instead, I use the StocksToTrade platform to screen for stocks that meet the following criteria:

  • Up +30% over the last few days
  • Volume increased 2x-3x above the average during the same period
  • Trade below $5.00

What I love about the StocksToTrade screener is it scans continuously throughout the day.

This is especially important for OTC stocks that often see little to no volume in the premarket.

Let’s use Global Tech Industries Group Inc (OTC: GTII) as an example.

Here is a daily chart for the last year.

If I were scanning for this stock, which sees very little movement and trading in the premarket, I likely wouldn’t see the results until the day denoted by the white arrow.

Oftentimes, stocks pop for a day and then fade into oblivion.

That’s fine. Those aren’t the ones that become Supernovas.

All I’m trying to do here is find stocks that are on the precipice of becoming a Supernova.

I check the screener in the premarket, maybe midday and after the close.

Once I have the stocks populated, I quickly look at their charts to see whether the stock was a former runner or whether it could be forming a new Supernova.

Additionally, I check the Breaking News to see if any of the stocks have catalysts behind the move.

Ideally, I want to see a positive story tied to the price action that can lead to further upside.

Keep a Good Watchlist

tim sykes looking at laptop
© Millionaire Media, LLC

Once I run my scan, then I’m ready to move on to my watchlist.

My watchlist contains about two dozen ticker symbols of companies I’m watching for potential trades.

These are stocks from my current and previous scans that I manage every couple of days or even once a week.

Once a stock hits step seven in my 7-Step Penny Stock framework, there really isn’t a need to keep tabs on it.

But, it’s always worth having an old watchlist to keep somewhere safe that you can reference once in a while.

Typically, I narrow my focus down to a half a dozen stocks each day that have shown real promise in the last week or so.

That includes multi-day runners or promoter post Supernova pumps that are perfect for morning panic dip buys

One of the easiest ways to free up your time is to use alerts.

More Breaking News

Set them up for breakout levels or percentage changes. That way, you can go about your day and only pop online as needed.

Establish Your Strategy

© Millionaire Media, LLC

If you give me a Supernova and tell me what phase it’s in, I can tell you what setup I would choose and how to play it.

I spent the time doing the heavy lifting over the last two decades.

So when a stock reaches those certain turning points, I know what they look like and how to play them.

I literally trade like a machine. Everything I do is second nature.

That’s not to say there aren’t bigger picture things to consider that can help you trade better.

But those are in addition to a structured trading system.

Rather than working your own from scratch, use the same one I developed that helped me earn my first $1 million in trading…

The same system I use to this day.

—Tim

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Timothy Sykes

Tim Sykes is a penny stock trader and teacher who became a self-made millionaire by the age of 22 by trading $12,415 of bar mitzvah money. After becoming disenchanted with the hedge fund world, he established the Tim Sykes Trading Challenge to teach aspiring traders how to follow his trading strategies. He’s been featured in a variety of media outlets including CNN, Larry King, Steve Harvey, Forbes, Men’s Journal, and more. He’s also an active philanthropist and environmental activist, a co-founder of Karmagawa, and has donated millions of dollars to charity. Read More

* Results are not typical and will vary from person to person. Making money trading stocks takes time, dedication, and hard work. There are inherent risks involved with investing in the stock market, including the loss of your investment. Past performance in the market is not indicative of future results. Any investment is at your own risk. See Terms of Service here

The available research on day trading suggests that most active traders lose money. Fees and overtrading are major contributors to these losses.

A 2000 study called “Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors” evaluated 66,465 U.S. households that held stocks from 1991 to 1996. The households that traded most averaged an 11.4% annual return during a period where the overall market gained 17.9%. These lower returns were attributed to overconfidence.

A 2014 paper (revised 2019) titled “Learning Fast or Slow?” analyzed the complete transaction history of the Taiwan Stock Exchange between 1992 and 2006. It looked at the ongoing performance of day traders in this sample, and found that 97% of day traders can expect to lose money from trading, and more than 90% of all day trading volume can be traced to investors who predictably lose money. Additionally, it tied the behavior of gamblers and drivers who get more speeding tickets to overtrading, and cited studies showing that legalized gambling has an inverse effect on trading volume.

A 2019 research study (revised 2020) called “Day Trading for a Living?” observed 19,646 Brazilian futures contract traders who started day trading from 2013 to 2015, and recorded two years of their trading activity. The study authors found that 97% of traders with more than 300 days actively trading lost money, and only 1.1% earned more than the Brazilian minimum wage ($16 USD per day). They hypothesized that the greater returns shown in previous studies did not differentiate between frequent day traders and those who traded rarely, and that more frequent trading activity decreases the chance of profitability.

These studies show the wide variance of the available data on day trading profitability. One thing that seems clear from the research is that most day traders lose money .

Millionaire Media 66 W Flagler St. Ste. 900 Miami, FL 33130 United States (888) 878-3621 This is for information purposes only as Millionaire Media LLC nor Timothy Sykes is registered as a securities broker-dealer or an investment adviser. No information herein is intended as securities brokerage, investment, tax, accounting or legal advice, as an offer or solicitation of an offer to sell or buy, or as an endorsement, recommendation or sponsorship of any company, security or fund. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes cannot and does not assess, verify or guarantee the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information, the suitability or profitability of any particular investment, or the potential value of any investment or informational source. The reader bears responsibility for his/her own investment research and decisions, should seek the advice of a qualified securities professional before making any investment, and investigate and fully understand any and all risks before investing. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes in no way warrants the solvency, financial condition, or investment advisability of any of the securities mentioned in communications or websites. In addition, Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes accepts no liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this information. This information is not intended to be used as the sole basis of any investment decision, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet the investment needs of any particular investor. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future returns.

Citations for Disclaimer

Barber, Brad M. and Odean, Terrance, Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors. Available at SSRN: “Day Trading for a Living?”

Barber, Brad M. and Lee, Yi-Tsung and Liu, Yu-Jane and Odean, Terrance and Zhang, Ke, Learning Fast or Slow? (May 28, 2019). Forthcoming: Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=2535636”

Chague, Fernando and De-Losso, Rodrigo and Giovannetti, Bruno, Day Trading for a Living? (June 11, 2020). Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=3423101”